Demons
by Qwi-Xux
Summary: The war was over, but some demons still remained. Sokka/Suki, one-shot


**A/N: This is not a new story. **Once upon a time, I had a series of some Avatar one-shots posted in one file as part of a prompt set for a community on LiveJournal. I dropped my prompt claim, so I removed it from my fanfiction account. However, I have some one-shots from that collection that I'd like to keep on my account, so I'm just going to post a few of them as standalones and not as part of a prompt set.

**Disclaimer: **Avatar: TLA is not mine.

**Originally written July 2009**

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Suki had nightmares about the war. Sokka only knew because she slept beside him; otherwise, he doubted he would have ever heard a word about it from her. She never spoke about it. Sokka lived with his own demons and knew how it could be, especially at night, caught between wake and sleep. The night only seemed to make the shadows that lurked deep inside even darker and stronger.

Suki always brushed it off when she woke up gasping, saying memories could become very twisted in dreams. She was always the same, determined and upbeat, encouraging her warriors during training and teasing Sokka, but it was during the times when she lay sweating and trembling beside him, her heart pounding against his own chest as he held her, that he saw the remnants of the war in her. Her response was always the same. "I'll be fine, Sokka. It was just a dream."

But there was only so long anyone could go before their demons caught up to them. For Suki, it was a matter of months before she fully faced hers. It came on a night when she woke Sokka like she never had before, screaming his name. Sokka jolted so violently that he fell off the bed. He jumped back onto it and grabbed Suki's shoulders when he realized she was still sleeping. Her eyes snapped open as soon as he touched her and she flung her arms out reflexively, shoving him away, her breathing rapid. She rolled off the bed and stumbled to the front door, stepping outside to stand on their front porch, her arms folded tightly across her chest as she rubbed her bare arms and drew several deep breaths.

Sokka swiped a hand across his eyes as he followed her out through the open front door, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Suki?"

"I'm okay."

"Suki."

"It was just a dream."

"Suki!"

She turned and stared at him, her eyes dark and hollow, and then abruptly folded into him. He held her tightly and slowly sank to the ground with her. She wasn't shaking or even making any noise. She simply held onto him, her head pressed against his, and didn't move or speak.

She broke her quiet before he could come up with anything helpful to say. "She knew how to hurt people."

"Who?"

"Azula."

Even months after the war, knowing that Azula was locked away in the Fire Nation, the mention of her filled Sokka with emotions he'd rather have left far behind. He heard her voice sometimes when his own demons came out to sneer at him.

Then the implications of what Suki had said hit full force. Sokka set Suki back from him enough to see her face. "What did Azula do to you?"

_"My favorite prisoner used to mention you all the time."_

Suki just shook her head.

_"She was convinced you were going to come rescue her. Of course, you never came, and she gave up on you."_

Sokka squeezed his eyes shut against the mocking voice in his memory. He opened them again when Suki's fingers touched his face and found her looking at him, her eyes a little clearer. "She was especially good at manipulating," Suki finally said.

"Yeah, she was." Sokka clenched his teeth.

"She was so…cold. So cold and calm about everything." Suki hesitated. "She told me you were dead."

Sokka's arms tightened around Suki as she continued, "I couldn't believe her. I kept telling myself that she was lying and that you were still out there." She looked directly into Sokka's eyes. "I never gave up on you."

Some of the tension eased from Sokka's shoulders, the memory of Suki's own words ringing louder in his mind, drowning at the echo of Azula's. _"I knew you'd come."_

Suki's words continued to come, slowly at first, and then faster, at long last giving words to the nightmares that had been haunting her. As they talked, he could feel her relaxing more and more with every word that dissipated in the warm night air.

The sun was rising by the time they had fallen silent, wrapped in each other's arms as they leaned against the outside of their home. "I have to start training in a little while," Suki murmured sleepily into Sokka's shoulder.

"Breakfast," Sokka mumbled back. "Need breakfast."

Suki pressed a kiss to Sokka's neck. "Come on. I'll cook the eggs if you make everything else."

"How is that fair?"

"I cooked dinner last night."

Sokka grumbled under his breath as Suki stood. His legs had gone to sleep from Suki sitting on them, and he had to shake them out and wait for the tingles to pass before he could get to his feet. "I plucked the squirrel chicken," he reminded her as they went inside.

Sunlight was beginning to shine through the windows now, brushing away the shadows and dark corners of their house. Sokka suspected that after last night, the nightmares would be less-or at least lighter and easier to chase away. There was no magic cure for dealing with after-effects of pain and tragedy. Just because a war was over and a new life had begun didn't mean everything was automatically perfect. But they would face their demons the same way they had faced everything else and made it through the war-with hope, fortitude, and loved ones at their side.


End file.
